Difficult for Cong to return to power on its own: Jairam

Jaipur: As Congress` top brass met to strategise on the next Lok Sabha polls discussing alliances among other things, senior Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday said "it is difficult" for the party to return to power on its own.

"It is difficult for me to visualise Congress coming to power on its own say, you know, in the immediate future," he said.

The Rural Development Minister said the party has "structural problems" in major states such as UP, Bihar and Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

"We have structural problems in Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh though our performance last time, last year, in Lok Sabha elections was very good," Ramesh told a news channel.

"We seem to be having certain structural problems in Odisha... In Gujarat, we have not done well in the Assembly Elections this time. We have done well but we have not done as well as we had expected or hoped," he said.

Talking to reporters Finance Minister P Chidambaram said "realitically, it is unlikely any party will get absolute majority but that does not mean we should stop aiming for absolute majority."

He added all parties should aim to win elections on their own. "If we fall short (of absolute majority), that is a different matter, but I think every party should aim to win an election on its own," Chidambaram said.